Voice of the People: Daily Life in the Antebellum Rural Delaware County New York Area

Family and Daily Life


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Introduction | Letters/Diaries/Newspapers, etc

1814: June 11: Letter from Samuel Sherwood to his fiancé Laura Bostwick; a widower with children looking for a wife

1814: October 4: Letter to Burr Silliman from Greenwich Headquarters: Lives well, boards outside camp, cloth dyeing

1814: November 7: Letter from Congressman Samuel Sherwood to friend Amasa Parker: prefers domestic life to politics

1815: Letter from Polly Bostwick to her newly married daughter Laura Sherwood: family news

1816: Last will and testament of George Fisher, Delhi, NY

1819: August 19:  Letter to John Teed in Delaware County, NY from his family in Chester, NY: hanging of James Teed for murder

ca. 1820:  Excerpt from the Centennial History of Delaware County, New York : 1797-1897: pioneer experiences

1820: May 25: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Hatter, Shoemaker

1820: June 8: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Weaver

1820: June 15: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Gin

1820: July 6: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Stoneware

1820: July 6: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Tailor

1820: August 3: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Runaway apprentice: Reward

1820: August 3: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Hardware store

1820: October 12: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Look out for a thief

1821: January 4: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: General store

1821: May 17: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Boarding house

1821: July 1: Delaware Gazette: Breach of promise of marriage suit: Brought by the "blighted rose"

1821: July 26: Delaware Gazette: Advertisements  Elopement of wife, Missouri land, Stray colt, Runaway apprentice, Brewery

1821: September 20: Delaware Gazette: Spinning record

1823: October 24: Letter from James Walton in NYC to Ebenezer Foote in Delhi, NY: Enjoyed visit, sending gun powder, segars [cigars?], melon seed, citron seed, etc.

1826: July 11: Letter from Samuel Sherwood to his wife Laura in Delhi (Delaware Co, NY): Writing from "cutthroat" New York City, he misses her

1826: August 16: Letter from Jane Ferguson from Walton (Delaware Co. NY)  to her children: Family news, spinning, please visit

1827: December 14: Letter from the Silliman family in Tecumseh, Michigan Territory, to Burr Silliman, Hobart, NY:  Family news, information on the settlement there, mention of moving there to find a husband

1829: October 15: Letter from S. Penfield to Ebenezer Foote: Order for a cask of beef tongues

ca. 1830 (?): Recipes for Layer Cake and Dark" Chacklet"

ca. 1830 (?):  Recipes for Steamed Pudding and "Chacklete" Cake

ca. 1830 (?) : Recipes for Republican Fruit Cake ("will keep for a year") and Delicate Cake

1831: December: On the Female Form:  Except from Godey's Lady's Book.

1832: Oct 15: Letter to the Ferguson family in Fergusonville (Delaware Co, NY) from family in New York City: Cold house, family news

1837: April 1: Letter from Laura Sherwood in NYC to her son Oakley in Delhi: family news, mention of the poor economy

1837: April 19:  Indenture of Alvina Colony, 6 year old resident of the Delaware Co. Poor House: Servant until age 18

1838: Excerpts from the Pride of Peter Prim, Cooperstown, NY: H & E. Phinney, 1838
Cover
Frontispiece: "Never too Old to Learn"
pp. 6 - 7: "Babes of Grace grow Apace"
pp. 8 - 9: "Yawning is Catching"
pp. 10 - 11: "A Stitch in time saves Nine"
pp. 14 - 15: "'Tis Bad Waiting for Dead Men's Shoes"
pp. 16 - 17: "The more Haste the worse Speed"
pp. 18 - 19: "You can't make a Whistle from a Pig's Tail
pp. 24 - 25: "A Pin a Day is a Groat a Year"
pp. 26 - 27: "Every Crow thinks her own Young the Whitest"
pp. 30 - 31: Who shall decide when Doctors disagree?"

1842: January 19: Delaware Gazette: Announcement: Temperance resolution from the Delhi Washington Total Abstinence Society

1842: January: Godey's Lady's Book:  Illustration: Fruits of Idleness

1842: January: Godey's Lady's Book:  Illustration: Fruits of Industry

1842: February: Godey's Lady's Book:  Illustration: Hide and Seek

1842: June 29: Delaware Gazette: Meredith Fourth of July celebration, Samuel Law

1842: September: Godey's Lady's Book:  Illustration: Getting ready for a date

ca. 1840 - 1850: Excerpt from John Burroughs Talks . Recollections of his boyhood near Roxbury (Delaware County, NY), including: bored logs as water pipes, springs, education, religion, family, story-telling, spooks, childhood fears, Christmas, storing apples in holes, spinning wool, flax, linen clothing, cheese-making, crickets in house, early rising, fireplace, brick oven, firewood, making tallow candles, candlelight, snow in cold house, beef, salt pork, raising and slaughtering pigs, buttermilk pop, thickened milk, the Anti-Rent conflict.

1842: March 20: Letter from Samuel Sherwood to his son William in Delhi, (Delaware Co, NY:) Asks what he plans to do with his life

1846: December 30: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Dry goods store

1846: December 30: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Farmers' store

1847: June 1: Voice of the People: Advertisement: Cabinet/chair manufacturer, funeral services

1847: June 1: Voice of the People: Advertisement: Dry good store

1847: June 1: Voice of the People: Advertisement: Hardware store

1847: June 1: Voice of the People: Advertisement: Miscellaneous

1847: June 1: Voice of the People: Advertisement: Summer goods, painting

1849: October 3: Delaware Gazette: Advertisement: Clothing store

1850: Letter from Eleanor Jayne to her son Samuel Ferguson Jayne in Davenport (Delaware Co. NY): Tailoring pants, sending pineapple, parasol, teapot

1850: Excerpt from Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper (Cooperstown, Otsego Co, NY): Observations of nature

1850: January 16: Letter from Samuel Sherwood to his daughter Mary: Fatherly advise, etiquette tips

1851: Letter from Harvey Seaman to parents in Delancey (Delaware Co. NY): Description of a trip by sail from NY to California via Cape Horn

1852: Excerpt from The Cultivator, May, p. 8: Weekly Routine of Housework

1852: Excerpt from The Cultivator, June, p. 9: Selecting a Wife
 

1853: Excerpts from the Diary of Eliza Mead, Walton (Delaware Co. NY)
March 1853  --good sleighing--washed clothes--ironed--mended clothes--pickled cabbage--letter from sister in Elkhorn (Wisconsin)--baked bread--churned--knitted--Doctor gave Eliza wash for humor on face--played dominoes--finished muslin cap--Gabriel went to Delhi to get teeth fixed--finished skirt of silk dress--twisted yarn--fried cake--filled bedstead with straw tick--brother James back from Wisconsin--went to church--wedding--Gabriel went to New York City by stage--visitors came for tea--James bought pantaloons--made hop emtins--caught a dozen trout--made cushion for church slip--braided a straw hat--Gabriel brought embroidered window curtains from New York City

April 1853 --made calls--bought hair brush--yarn for tidys--made black silk dress--possible trip by raft--baked bread--churned--ate warm sugar--made about four hundred pounds of sugar--went to church meetings--packed ham and dried beef in ashes--mended clothes--made paper bags for ham and dried beef--ironed--mended--knitted mittens--gave friends hen to start a flock--singing school--George closed up school with a concert--gave friend rug Gabriel bought in New York--spread washed clothes on grass--fried cakes--twisted yarn on wheel--husks to fill bed

June 1853 --picked strawberries--cut and basted dress--friends in Rockford (Illinois)--made pair of pantaloons--made white sun bonnet--bought linen for shirt bosoms--bought castile soap--churned--burnt coffee--baked bread and pies--picked poke for greens--picked strawberries.

October 1853 --put down rag carpet for winter--put stove in parlor--visited--baked bread--stewed apples--made two night caps--trip to Richfield Springs seeking cure for a mysterious malady--stayed in boarding house--water awful but worth a try--called on Doctor--Gabriel gave Eliza twenty five dollars for expenses--drank more water--toured Lake Otsego--gathered chestnuts--worked on muslin cap--more water made Eliza vomit--ice cream--Gabriel sent her stamps     (The remainder of Eliza's trip to Richfield Springs is missing)

1853: Excerpts from the Diary of John Champlin (a surveyor for Jay Gould): describes food, living conditions, mention of a prosperous negro farmer (Editors note: .Although terms utilized in antebellum Delaware County may not conform to present day usage, in the interests of historical accuracy, the term negro in lower case was left as written )

1855: December: Hints for Home Comfort: Excerpt from Godey's Lady's Book.

1855: Excerpt from the "Narrative of Lucy Ann Lobdell, the Female Hunter of Delaware and Sullivan Counties, N. Y.": a female lifestyle that deviated from the Cult of True Womanhood.
 
1871: September 13: The Herald & Torch Light, Hagerstown, Maryland: A Strange Story
 
1877 April 24: The Wellsboro Agitator, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.: A Mountain Romance
 
1880 June 16: Excerpts from the Delaware County Court, Delhi, NY: In the matter of Lucy Ann [Lobdell] Slater a Supposed Lunatic
Testimony of John Lobdell
Testimony of Ed. L. [Pettingill] M.D.
Testimony of William Main
Testimony of Edwin Stephens
Testimony of Harry Walsh
 
1883 November 9: Warren Ledger A Queer Married Couple

1855: September 11: Letter from Robert Sherwood to his mother Laura Sherwood: Reminiscences of life in Delhi

1856: April: Excerpt from Godey's Lady's Book: On the art of good and cheap cookery: use whole grains, vegetables

1856: October 8: Delaware Gazette: Will not pay debts of runaway wife

1857: December 1: Letter from Mrs. Jayne and Charlotte Jayne to George Jayne, a student at Fergusonville Academy in Fergusonville (Delaware Co. NY) : be a good boy; write soon

1858: January 7: Letter from Charlotte Jayne to George Jayne, a student at Fergusonville Academy in Fergusonville (Delaware Co. NY): Christmas presents

1858: May 15:  Letter from George Jayne to his sister Charlotte Jayne from Fergusonville Academy in Fergusonville (Delaware Co, NY): Note from school

1858: November 21:  Letter from George and Emily Jayne to their sister Charlotte Jayne from Fergusonville Academy in Fergusonville (Delaware Co, NY): Thanksgiving dinner, skating, send stamps

1858: December 30:  Letter from Charlotte Jayne to her brother George Jayne at  Fergusonville Academy in Fergusonville (Delaware Co, NY): Christmas presents, mother sick

1859: January 4:  Letter from George Jayne at  Fergusonville Academy in Fergusonville (Delaware Co, NY) to his sister Charlotte: Christmas presents, New Years, went sliding

No date: Photograph: Probable 19th century outhouse (privy), Delhi, NY
 
1860: Excerpts from the Diary of Eliza Mead, Walton (Delaware Co. NY)
October 1860 --washed paint in buttery and kitchen--made shirt sleeves--Ladies paper--vinegar to make mangoes--Wide Awakes in town--future of son George--stewed pumpkins--baked apples--hemmed handkerchief--made bonnet cape--trimmed straw bonnet--George went off with Wide Awakes--peeled apples--played piano--Eliza feels it is her fault George ran off with the Wide Awakes--husband Gabriel needs to correct her

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